URGENT: ISIL leader Al-Baghdadi gives Christians 24 hours to leave Nineveh, directs ISIL to loot Christian property

(IraqiNews.com) On Friday, the Niveneh Council member, Zuhair al-Chalabi said that the leader of the organization of the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi gave Christians till Saturday to leave the province or they will be killed, while he pointed to his followers to loot their property and possessions.

Chalabi said in an interview for IraqiNews.com, that “the leader of ISIL, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi issued a statement to give the Christians one day to leave the province of Nineveh,” adding that “the organization of ISIL gave, earlier, Christians the choice, either to join Islam or pay tribute.” The tribute is a tax known as the Jizya.

Chalabi added that “the elements of ISIL prevented Christians from taking anything of their money or their property,” pointing out that “the militants of ISIL looted the money and the properties.”

Chalabi pointed out that “Christians have already begun to leave Mosul,” calling “the concerned authorities to pay attention to the suffering, injustice and aggression directed against the Christian population and to save this important segment of Iraq.”

On June 20, 2014, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Iraq revealed that the organization of ISIL imposed the Jizya tribute to Christian citizens in Mosul, in an attempt to pressure them and expelled them from the city, calling on the government and the international community to put an end to that.